Tales from the Office on Employee Recognition, Employee Rewards, Life Hacks, Gamification, and Human Resources.

Category Archives: Employee Recognition

March 1: Employee Appreciation Day

Employee Appreciation Day takes place on the first Friday of every March, and was created as a way to show recognition and appreciation for all the hard work employees do throughout the year. Many companies use this holiday as an opportunity to do something fun for their employees to show them just how much they appreciate them!

Since we’re appreciating their work and awesome, go-getter attitudes, it’s important we know what they want!

Kate Kastenbaum Senior HR Manager

The company Chatmeter took a competitive approach to their Employee Appreciation Day by running a social media contest.

In the week leading up to Employee Appreciation Day we are running a social media contest for employees to post their favorite picture from a past Chatmeter activity, with a caption naming an idea for something fun or crazy the team could do next.

Employee Recognition Increases Motivation and Retention

Employee Recognition with Recognize is a simple way to increase employee satisfaction, motivation, and retention. In a recent employee recognition survey at Recognize found that 49% have left a job for not being recognized, and 77% appreciate being recognized for their work. Most people surveyed also feel more motivated to work hard when they’re recognized by their managers and peers. We also found that by using Recognize 96% of employees felt more connected to their employer, and 90% wanted to stay with their company longer.

8 Ways to Recognize your Employees on Employee Appreciation Day

Send employee recognitions to all your employees telling them how much you appreciate them

With Recognize, it’s easy to give employee recognition for your staff’s hard work and dedication, not only on Employee Appreciation Day, but everyday as well! With the Recognize bulk employee recognition tool, you can easily recognize every single member of your staff by importing a spreadsheet.

Print off posters of some of your employee’s recognitions and hang them up around the office!

Posters are a fun way to bring the digital space into your physical space and showcase your super star employees in a new way.

Organize a town hall meeting to get all of your staff celebrating together

Town Hall meetings are a great opportunity for the leaders of the company to gather everyone around and recognize standout employees. If you have remote workers, it’s also a great excuse to get everyone in the same room for some camaraderie.

Interview different employees and create an Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook story to showcase your employee appreciation

Since everyone is always on their phones anyway, try bringing the Employee Appreciation Day experience mobile! Interview different employees about direct reports, managers, or peers they want to recognize for doing a great job, and post them on your social media application of choice.

Cater a lunch

There’s nothing people love more than free food! A surefire to make sure everyone is in the office that day is to have your staff’s favorite restaurant cater a lunch for the whole office. If you really want to make a day of it, have several food trucks come out to the office parking lot and celebrate the arrival of Spring in the great outdoors! See more employee reward ideas here.

Place a single flower or plant on your employee desks

A single flower with a small handwritten note can go a long way to showing each and every employee you value them. Flowers are also a great way to show those cold dark winter days are leaving and spring is here!

Give to a local non-profit to help make the local community better

Show your employees that you not only appreciate them, but you appreciate their community as well. Give to a local non-profit that invigorates your local community and makes everyone’s lives better!

Get out of the office and volunteer

Have your staff take the afternoon off, go out together, and do something good for the community, like cleaning up a local park or beach. It’s great way to spend time together and show your appreciation to your local community as well.

If you try out any of these ideas for Employee Appreciation Day, or come up with some of your own, we would love to hear about it! Send us pictures or shoot us an email of how you recognized your employees on Employee Appreciation Day 2019!

Since Susan Cain’s bestselling book, Quiet, was released in 2012, the internet has exploded with articles on how introverts and extroverts operate differently in just about every setting – parties, classrooms, parenting, and the workplace.

The thesis of Cain’s book says that while much of our society is set up to reward extroversion, introverts contribute their own quiet strengths to make everything from an award-winning movie to a Monday morning meeting a success.

As a manager, you’ve no doubt learned or observed that introverts and extroverts approach work differently. It’s usually pretty easy to identify who on your team is an introvert and who is an extrovert. Broadly speaking, the extroverts tend to send more meeting requests, volunteer for more team-based projects, and prefer open-plan office spaces. In contrast, you’ll find your introverted employees tucked away in their office or cubicle, wearing headphones while they work, and never requesting a meeting when an email would do.

Not all employees work in the same way, and not all employees like to be recognized in the same way. What is meaningful and flattering to one employee might be mortifying or uncomfortable to another.

If recognizing your employees is important to you (and it should be!), you should understand how personality differences come into play when giving employee recognition. An employee’s personal preferences will dictate how they receive recognition, so they should also dictate how you offer recognition.

Introversion vs. Extroversion: The Basics

Understanding what it means to be an introvert or an extrovert will make it easier to determine which forms of recognition each type of employee will find meaningful.

Essentially, the difference between introversion and extroversion is that while extroverts draw energy from their surroundings, introverts draw energy from within (and are easily drained by too-stimulating environments).

This fundamental difference is why you’ll see extroverts drawn to social settings like moths to a flame while introverts seek spaces within the office that are calm, quiet, and as secluded as possible. It’s why introverts tend to despise the trend toward open-plan offices and extroverts rejoice in it.

These definitions may seem straightforward, but they’re expressed in a wide variety of different ways throughout life. Here are a few examples:

Introverts prefer one-on-one conversations to group discussions

The phrase “the more the merrier” was without question coined by an extrovert

Introverts tend to be more private and will share personal news with a select few rather than making an announcement

Extroverts think out loud, while introverts prefer to process their thoughts completely before speaking

Introverts are less likely to raise their hand in class, even when they know the right answer

An extrovert might raise their hand even if they’re not sure they have the right answer

An introvert would prefer to go out to dinner with a close friend rather than attend a party

An extrovert would enjoy having dinner with a friend, but would plan to attend a party afterward

Networking events are an introvert’s worst nightmare

Extroverts are more engaged when they’re working collaboratively

Introverts are more productive when they have uninterrupted stretches of independent work time

Considering how introverts and extroverts respond differently to the same situation will help you think through which employee recognition techniques are appropriate for your introverted employees versus your more extroverted team members.

For example, while an extroverted employee might greatly appreciate a party thrown in honor of their 5-year work anniversary, an introvert would probably prefer a one-on-one lunch with their supervisor and perhaps one or two close colleagues.

Now that we’ve established the fundamental difference between introversion and extroversion and looked at various ways those differences get expressed, let’s explore some ideas for how to reward different personality types in the office.

Employee Recognition Ideas for Introverts

In general, you should avoid public recognition when rewarding introverts for good work. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that introverts don’t want to be recognized at all just because they don’t enjoy more public forms of employee recognition. Everyone wants to be recognized for their hard work and accomplishments. Introverts just appreciate recognition in different forms.

Second a personal email. When an employee does something deserving of recognition, it might seem like an email sent to the entire company would be a great way to let everyone know about their achievement. However, that mass email is likely to prompt a stream of congratulations from well-meaning coworkers. What could be wrong with that? Well, too much attention is an introvert’s worst nightmare! You’re better off sending a personal email to the employee letting them know you appreciate their good work.

Recognize them in front of their immediate team. If you do want to make sure that others are aware of your employee’s achievement, you can recognize them in front of a small group of people that they know well and are familiar with, such as their immediate team. Keep it simple, such as a quick “Good job” at the weekly standup. Congratulations from those they work closely with will mean more to an introvert than well wishes from colleagues they only know by sight.

Send recognition via your company’s employee recognition platform. Employee recognition apps are perfect for introverts. Because recognition is sent through the platform, it feels more private even if other employees can see it. The employee is able to respond in their own time, without being put on the spot. With apps like Recognize, employees can also redeem recognition points for rewards that are most valuable to them, such as a gift card or paid time off

Give thoughtful feedback. Many introverts are strong critical thinkers, and appreciate when others demonstrate that they were also paying attention to the details. Instead of just telling them “Good job,” describe what challenge you saw them overcome and why you admired how they handled it. They’ll really appreciate that you noticed their hard work and took the time to recognize them for it.

Take them out for coffee. An introvert might not enjoy a group lunch or a party celebrating their latest achievement, but taking them out for coffee is a nice way to make a gesture of appreciation that’s more in line with an introvert’s preference for low-key, one-on-one social interactions. A coffee date also comes with a more predictable duration; many introverts dislike the ambiguity of a social event with no definitive end time. Just make sure to schedule the date in advance – most introverts appreciate warning prior to a social engagement.

Employee Recognition Ideas for Extroverts

The biggest difference between providing employee recognition for introverts and for extroverts is the execution. While introverts are uncomfortable being called out in front of a group or taken by surprise, extroverts are quite the opposite!

Public recognition. Being called out in a large meeting – even for a positive reason – might make an introvert want to hide under their chair, but it will make an extrovert glow with pride. If appropriate, save your words of praise for a setting when others are around to applaud and congratulate them. The brains of extroverts are actually wired differently to be more responsive to praise, so words of praise will go a long way.

Work party. Because extroverts thrive on socializing, a work party thrown in their honor on the occasion of a work anniversary or promotion is a great way to make them feel appreciated and recognized for their hard work. Being the center of attention and receiving compliments from well-wishing coworkers are just the kind of validation that motivates an extrovert to keep doing their best.

Surprise lunch outing. Along with being more responsive to praise, the increased dopamine levels linked with extroversion also cause extroverted brains to crave and respond more strongly to novelty. A surprise reward is like a rush to the system for an extrovert! Because they tend to seek out both novelty and reward, they will work harder know their company understands and appreciates them.

Experience-based reward. Extroverts tend to get more enjoyment out of experiences than tangible gifts. So if, for example, you’re partnering with a social recognition platform, make sure to include options to redeem points for experiences, not just gift cards or a better parking space. Extroverted employees would be more excited to redeem their points for tickets to a concert or sporting event, a flight upgrade on their next business trip, or a spa package.

Ask them to share their achievement. While it’s better to let your introverted employees savor recognition in private, extroverted employees enjoy showing off a little. If you start a meeting by recognizing them for a recent achievement, ask if they’d like to say a few words about it to the group. Sharing their accomplishment allows them to relive the success, bask in their pride, and receive positive reinforcement from their team – all of which will motivate them to repeat the experience in the future.

Every employee on your team is unique, and it can be hard to learn how to manage everyone’s different work styles and preferences. But learning how to give employee recognition in a way that’s meaningful to each employee will increase job satisfaction, productivity, motivation, and overall employee retention. In other words: recognizing your employees pays off in both the short- and long-term, and is well worth the investment.

1. User Authentication for Employee Recognition Programs

How will your users log into the recognition program? Will you burden your IT team or help desk with support queries for misplaced passwords? Instead, use a recognition program that does not require or store usernames or passwords. Instead they delegate to the industry standard OAuth or Single-Sign-On protocols.

2. User Provisioning

How will users be added into the recognition program? Users should be preloaded into the system so as users activate their account they can see their colleagues. Manual entry is not scalable for large organizations and even spreadsheet imports can be tedious and error prone. A modern employee recognition program should be able to sync with your user directory in the cloud, such as with Yammer, Microsoft, or your HRIS software. SCIM is the industry standard protocol for user provisioning that is supported by Microsoft Azure, Facebook, and Slack.

3. Employee Recognition Notifications and Email Deliverability

Modern employee recognition programs should utilize several channels to notify and engage users of their recognitions. Often, email is a tricky channel due to spam and phishing filters. We recommend utilizing a program that supports desktop and mobile push notifications. As a last resort, email deliverability can be addressed by ensuring email is delivered by a fixed pool of IP addresses that can be whitelisted by IT.

4. Data Privacy and Security of the Employee Recognition and Rewards Data

Depending on your industry, the sensitivity of the data sent in your recognition program may vary. Make sure your recognition software has strict privacy rules and follows industry standards such as ISO27001, SOC2, or HIPAA compliance. Also look for 3rd party vulnerability testing.

5. Integrations

Recognition programs are their best when they are top of mind which means being close to where work is getting done. Integrations into existing software toolchains are critical non-only for the success of the recognition program, but for making life easier on IT.

From forward-thinking companies from all over the world, this is what we see as trends, advice, and tips for employee recognition and employee rewards.

Automatic Employee Recognition

Don’t rely on a paper-based system any longer. Incorporate automatic recognition for anniversaries, email clients, and more.

Intrinsic Motivation as Employee Rewards

Dan Pink’s Ted Talk changed the way companies look at motivating knowledge workers. Look beyond monetary rewards in a program to maximize results. Try status, access, or powers as other forms of incentives.

Leadership Buy-In

Gallup poll found recognition from executives or management is far more significant than from peers. Encourage leadership to recognize staff for all-for-one mentality.

Start Small, Think Big

Start with a program people can wrap their heads around, while havingvision for the future.This increases adoption at early stages, as well as keeping it fresh later on.

Accessible to Everyone

All levels and departments of the organization should have access to the employee recognition program.

“Employees are a company’s greatest asset – they’re your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best; provide them with encouragement, stimulus, and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission.” – Anne M. Mulcahy

How do you pick the best types of employee rewards for your company? There are numerous methods of praising staff. Each and every company’s situation is unique, and what might work for one doesn’t necessarily have to work for another. To try and help you determine the best way to motivate your workforce, we have sought to compile some employee rewards for you to consider. Here are seven of them.

1) Ideas for Employee Monetary Gift or Products

Who doesn’t want a shiny new Macbook?

Although we have quoted Dan Pink in the past as for saying monetary rewards can reduce productivity, staff nonetheless love cash and monetary prizes when appropriate. There are many options here to motivate your workers with monetary rewards. Don’t just stop at the employee when thinking about rewards. Consider their family as well.

Cash

Apple products, like MacBooks or the watch

HD flat screen TVs

Home spa package (lotions, bath bombs, oils)

Cooking appliances

Drones or other novelty high tech

Sporting equipment

Bicycles for adults and children

Car wash

In-home or in-office hair cut

Books

Pay for day care

The trick is to be creative. Ask your staff what they would want to have. Get your office community involved.

2) Gift Cards Selection for Your Employee Rewards

Cards are an efficient way to reward staff. Some benefits of gift cards include they are sent automatically through Recognize for free with the initial subscription, with the large variety of gift cards, there is something for everyone, and gift cards are digital, so they are always accessible. Popular cards according to a 2016 study include:

Target

Gamestop

Chipotle

Amazon

Walmart

Apple

Bestbuy

Fandango

Cabelas

Netflix

Home Depot

Nike

Victoria’s Secret

Sephora

AMC

REI

Whole Foods

Visa prepared cards (who doesn’t love cash?)

3) Monetary Experience Ideas for Your Staff

From boat cruises, tickets to a game, or gym pass, create a unique list of experiences for your staff.

4) Non-Monetary Experiences

This is where a company have to get creative about what they can leverage as employee rewards. Non-monetary experiences and non-monetary gifts are less utilized and redeemed, except for the day off. Everyone loves a day off! You may want to subsidize these rewards to have some of them redeemed more often.

Lunch with the boss (or CEO)

Boss for the day

Change offices for a day

Paid time off (15min, 30min, 1hr, half day, full day)

Conferences

Pizza Party

5) Company Swag Gifts

As you can imagine, these are less redeemed than other categories, since these are things that companies already give away for free.

Company sweatshirts

Company hats

Company mugs

6) Power for Staff

Companies rarely realize this is a reward you can offer and it costs no money. For those in the workplace that pull ahead, show promise, and deliver results promptly, assigning more power through delegation can offer them motivation to continue on the same trajectory they are on. Among the most common methods of assigning more power to better performing individuals is through assigning them some supervisory duties such as making them team leader.

Power to make a decision in an area they have show expertise

Power to come up with new ideas to tackle problems

7) Donating to Charity

Helping out is a part of the human condition. Involving your workforce in charitable events works towards building cohesion within your workers. When they relax and connect at a personal level while contributing to a worthy cause, the effects will spill over to the office as rapport and in turn productivity and retention improves. Out of the box, Recognize provides gift cards for a number of charities:

Charity Gift Cards:

The Nature Conservancy

Girls Who Code

RED

American Cancer Society

Clean Water Fund

National Park Foundation

Special Olympics

World of Children Award

Summer Search

Long Live The Kings

Non-Gift Card Charities:

Mix it Up

We recommend a mix of the above methods to motivate staff most effectively. Involving your workforce in determining the appraisal package is also a way of making the process more efficient. After all, they know what resonates with them. If leadership can offer perks and rewards staff love, your workforce will be more committed.

“Being a nurse means to hold all your own tears and start drawing smiles on people’s faces” – Dana Basem.

With healthcare being one of the fastest growing industries, organizations face challenges in more ways than before in employee engagement. That’s why more than ever, healthcare organization must consider employee recognition as part of their overall strategy. While healthcare employees work in extremely high-stress situations, and are not rewarded accordingly, the employers deal with serious challenges due to a high turnover rate and labor shortage.

Healthcare’s High Turnover and Low Satisfaction

According to a 2016 Nursing Solutions report, the average turnover in the nursing industry has reached 16.5% with an average turnover cost of $50k. SHRO’s are realizing this and that’s why behavior optimization and people analytics are on the rise in healthcare.

The report shows the current situation in the healthcare industry is driven by the inherently stressful responsibilities of the employees, the high turnover rate is also caused by a reason that can be actually controlled – employee recognition and satisfaction. Underappreciated and overworked employees will never be able to perform to their best. In fact, the lack of appreciation from the management is one of the top drivers of low job satisfaction, and consequently the main reason behind the high turnover rate.

The Healthcare Solution

Employee engagement strategies move the needle for employee satisfaction and retention. Healthcare managers need to make use of these programs and to combine them with the proper tools, education and empowerment methods in order to ensure that their employees are engaged with their work. A successful program decreases turnover, improve efficiency and promotes the core values of hospitals.

How to Make Recognition Programs Work

The execution is paramount for new initiatives to take hold. Recognition programs in the healthcare industry should be balanced between value-based initiatives and performance-based. Studies shows people want to feel appreciated for their work, and they want to be rewarded for their creativity and their unique contribution to the organization.

However, for the recognition program to work as designed, all personnel involved from managers and supervisors to doctors and nurses, need to be properly trained. That’s why at Recognize we built it to be so straightforward that staff are guided through the program intuitively. We believe all tools should be easy to use.

Regardless of technology ease-of-use, the linchpin for an engagement strategy is buy-in from all levels of the organization. The following are a few suggestions:

Give staff a reason to send recognition with non-monetary or monetary rewards

Make it easy for managers to run reports, receive notifications, and recognize staff in their workflow

Help leaders see the benefits of discovering qualitative people analytics through continuous positive feedback

Start Small Think Big

Recognition to your employees must be constant, unbiased, and meaningful. In the healthcare industry, it is important to be open to new, innovative rewarding ideas. While you can always use the existing goals and procedures for rewarding employees, innovation is what will make you benefit of a serious, appreciated recognition program.

Use Case: Making Workplace Safety a Priority

Healthcare workers are exposed to a wide variety of safety hazards. Several issues arose in 2015 that shed new light on patient safety threats. As part of a complete employee recognition program, you need to recognize and reward those employees that have been affected by an accident. At the same time, you can make workplace safety a priority by integrating this aspect into your reward & recognition program. Gallup’s employee engagement database shows 70% fewer safety incidents compared to companies with disengaged staff.

The Result: Giving Rewards

Receiving awesome perks at work as a result from employee recognition will lead to long term success of an employee engagement program. Gamification shows we can use a variety of resources. SAPS stands for Status, Access, Power, and Stuff. These are the four elements you can provide as rewards to staff.

Status – Create a special video about someone in the company and present it company-wide. Give people a special job title based on their qualities.

Access – Give staff access to conferences or even a parking spot.

Power – The power to make a decision based on the qualities they have shown.

Stuff – Gift cards, days off, massages, lunch delivered, or cash are all popular examples.

The least expensive most effective gift to an employee is status.

More Staff Reward Ideas for Healthcare

Lower back massages each Wednesday

Employee awards banquet once every six months

Monthly meeting with the boss: each month, employees are invited by their superior to attend a lunch meeting

Free tickets to sporting events for overtime hours

Wall of fame recognition

20% bonus for Holidays

Pizza party event

Various other bonuses for performance and for positive customer feedback

How to Do Employee Recognition for Healthcare

As a rule of thumb, you need to base your program on four unique elements:

Unified platform:

Due to decentralization, a unified platform available in the cloud is vital for your recognition program’s success. The platform should be accessible from any device and should integrate seamlessly with third-party apps. Showcasing employee recognition and creating a team environment increases productivity by 12.5%.

Recognition options:

While it is vital to make sure your employees understand the importance of being recognized and rewarded, you should also ensure that they are be allowed to recognize their peers. Your employees should have multiple recognition options in order to become part of the larger organizational culture.

Mix of informal and formal strategies

While formal, branded awards are imperative for building up the organizational culture, informal awards are necessary to add a human touch and make the experience complete.

Customizable awards

The last element of a successful rewarding program in the healthcare industry is a flexible program. You need to be open to change and base your rewards on the changing trends.

Once you put together all of these elements, you have a solid base for your employee recognition program. To get it rolling, here is what you need to do:

Whether the team takes a trip to Hawaii or event based themes, recognizing your employees helps boost morale, productivity and engagement.

Create a project team

For starters, it is important to establish ownership of the program. The team within the institution should be cross-functional, incorporating multiple units in the hospital, the HR and IT departments. Or just someone well liked in the organization that people know and respect.

Allocate a budget:

Next convince the members of the board, the directors, and the stakeholders that putting money in an employee rewarding program is an investment that pays off by itself. HR professionals with budget of at least 1% of payroll are more likely to perceive positive effects on the organization than less than 1%. Healthcare is ranked third highest in turnover rates with 13%, improving this is accomplishable with tried and true employee engagement methods.

The cost of employee turnover not only means financial repercussions, it can result in lowering the knowledge base in your company and decrease performance and workplace morale. – Streamline Verify

Promote the launch and help your employees understand the recognition and rewards process.

Promote the launch:

Create a big event and promote it across all departments. Everyone should attend and it should be fun for everyone. Who doesn’t love a great party that celebrates everyone’s accomplishments?

People Want to Make a Difference in Their Workplace

They want to know that their work matters, especially in the healthcare industry. However, you need to go the extra mile and create a rewarding & recognition program if you want to have happy employees. Put together a recognition platform and you will be able to reap the benefits that result from keeping your employees satisfied.

Workplaces are seeing generation tides, Millennials are a big part of the workforce now and with each new generation adapting to changes are necessary. Just how well is your company adapting to fit the Millennial generation into your workplace? Let’s look at the current statistics to help you evaluate your company’s current methods, how to adapt with Millennials and inspire them:

What these statistics show is insufficient workplace culture and current way of obtaining talented Millennials. It’s vital to understand who they are and what they want, they make up 38% of the U.S. workforce. Simply, desires and expectation are not being met today.

67% of Millennials will be engaged at work if they strongly agree the mission or purpose of their company makes them feel their job is important.

While Millennials are known as job-hopping generation. How do you inspire or keep your talented Millennial employee? There are few ways to hire, inspire, and keep your Millennial.

Step 1 The hiring process:

Every recruiter or hiring manager will ask this interview question, “Where do you see yourself in the next 3-5 years?”. Asking a Millennial this question is probably the hardest question they are going to answer. Millennial will jump ship if their employer lacks opportunities for them. Millennials are born as opportunity seekers, every hiring manager must set opportunities and help each millennial understand that opportunity.

Set expectations and lay out the opportunities before hiring a Millennial, and make sure to deliver those opportunities.

Provide staff with bi-annual milestones to reach long term goals. Remind them of where they are currently and help them develop to reach those opportunities. Millenials and Generation Z expect fast returns on investment. In the real world, that doesn’t happen often. Remind them of the steps they are taking to reach the mountain.

By setting those milestones, your staff will understand the tasks at hand and fulfill their goals. You can also celebrate each milestone achieved by using a recognition program to help them see and feel instant gratification and a sense of achievement.

Step 2 Feedback is important, but how:

19% of Millennial say they receive routine feedback. Millennials want feedback but won’t ask for it. We need to discuss the importance of transparency and opportunities. Millennials won’t ask for feedback simply because they have high expectations and are overachievers. They are constantly sprinting for results and the current way for a company providing feedback is too long of a process, it’s not helpful and a waste of time. Your company can perform one on one feedback or with the whole group to help encourage each other to grow and be transparent with one another.

Unhappiness can still arise. When setting each milestone, you must ask for their evaluation, try to understand from their perspective and show them empathy. Communication with a Millennial is vital; otherwise, how do they know if they are doing a good job, or understand your perspective and or see themselves moving forward? While feedback is important, emphasize where they are currently and how you can help them get to the next level. Providing short and instant feedback is crucial is today’s landscape.

If your company is currently using the S.B.I (Situation, Behavior, Impact) model to provide your employee’s feedback, you are on the right track. This element of engagement and performance might be one of the greatest missed opportunities for leaders and managers. If your company does not have several opportunities for your employees, you can implement a Recognition and Rewards program with a company like Recognize.

Creating a nomination badge

Recognition programs are a way to reach out to Millennials. It provides instant recognition and gratification. They can comb through their level of achievements instead of printed awards and certification. Instead of communicating your feedback via words, why not create badges? Encourage feedback, think Twitter, likes, short and relevant actions for your Millennials. Personalize recognition campaigns by asking your Millennial employees to come up with badges and awards, which can provide a sense of ownership and help boost productivity. Be transparent and ask them for their opinions and ideas. Recognition can be display at your office with kiosk mode, where your employees can see their achievement. Encourage each other to participate, create friendly competition, and compliment your Millennials hard work.

Step 3: Workplace Culture

Millennials are entrepreneurial. Maximizing these “intrepreneurs” who have a strong desire for achievement and who sets high standards and expectation for themselves and those around them. They will also look up to leadership for inspiration and motivation. Millennials want a manager whose ethical, fair, values transparency, and dependability. They want a boss who cares about their development and exercises their strength daily at work. It’s not just about 40+ hour work week and a consistent paycheck. It’s about how they can contribute and grow within the company.

How are you developing your employee’s skills? Are they learning or is it a mandatory checklist? Truly engage with your Millennials, you must provide a better education and learning system that will challenge them. It’s about being relevant and being practical. How can they use what they’ve learned now and in the future?

To evaluate your company’s culture, here are four questions you should consider. This goes for all generation and from the book The Human Capital Edge, by Ira Kay wrote,

Is this a winning organization I can be proud of?

Can I maximize my performance on the job?

Are people treated well economically and inter personally?

Is the work itself fulfilling and enjoyable?

Helping Millennials understand these questions can help them visually see where they will be within those 2-5 years. What is your company’s goal for your Millennial employees? What recognition and rewards are you providing your current employees and how well is it being received? Create a winning culture environment that your employees can be proud of, and your company will acquire and retain talented Millennials. Your office will become a workplace where they feel inspired and motivated to stay and grow.

Get over hiring difficulties and talent development. As we enter 2016, we welcome a promising year of new HR trends with changing mindsets and increasing integration of technology. Here are the top 3 Human Resource predictions to watch for.

High Demand of Data and Analytics Tools

Big Data is an emerging trend and plays a vital role in gathering, processing and analyzing data, thereby being the lifeline of business lifecycles. Any new-age business wanting to stand out from the crowd needs to be at the top of their game as far as data analytics is considered. Business decisions are getting increasingly data-driven, and for a good reason. Data is what helps you plumb the depths of your workforce so you can strategize HR operations right from recruitment to meeting employee goals according to shifting trends. According to Julie Stich, Director of Research at the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, “Employers are trying different things to see what works for them—a lot of it depends on company culture.”

Increased Focus on Employee Recognition

Experts believe that the key to increased productivity lies in employee recognition and engagement. In fact, it is directly linked to better performance, profitability and customer engagement—outcomes that businesses of all types are seeking. If your employees feel appreciated for their efforts, it is natural that they will actively contribute to your organization’s growth. If employee rewards are a part of your workplace culture, you can also do away with talent retention worries. If you’ve used Slack’s team-based messaging software or Yammer’s collaborative social environment for businesses, you already know what we’re talking about. “We’re seeing an evolution here; it’s becoming more about total employee well-being” says Stich. With platforms like Recognize on the rise, it is clear why employee recognition is on the HR’s radar this year.

Rise of Integrated Workforce Management Systems

Any organization dealing with over 50 full-time employees will be aware of the monthly requirement to report and track data, thanks to the Affordable Care Act. If paying penalties or spending hours collecting data from multiple systems is not an option, integrated human capital management solutions come into the picture. While we’re on the topic of data, it is worth mentioning the focus on prevention of data breaches in 2016. The digital era poses various threats such as hacking of employee and customer data and has a direct impact on the business community, so time for companies to pull up their socks for extensive data management and security!

Company leaders are showing a real concern for what is to come with the largest generation – millennials. Millennials want autonomy, they want things to matter, and they want to be mobile. This different mentality from previous generations has been a two-decade-long shift first from video games, then internet, and now mobile.

1. Instant, Always-on, Global Information.

The millennial comedian Aziz Ansari gave a comparison to the millennial mindset in the context of gay marriage. He said, “Two dudes are kissing? I’m about to watch every movie ever, right now! They [millennials] don’t care at all.” Instant global information has made millennials see the world in a whole new light. They look past issues that are not important in the global scheme, because now with Twitter and Facebook they can connect on a deeper level with people all over the globe about any issue as soon as events unravel.

2. Mobile

An endlessly expanding encyclopedia is in your pocket. Every person you have ever known is a short search away. College students complete their studies from anywhere on ultralight laptops. Being anywhere and still connected is the new norm.

A Blueprint for Companies Seeking to Attain and Retain Millennials

“When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves” – Vicktor E. Frankl.

1. Autonomy and Idealism

By incorporating autonomy and causes, companies can reap the rewards from both a marketing standpoint and an employee’s lifetime value to the company. Companies with skunk groups for independent innovative projects receive both innovative ideas and prototypes, but also increase employees dedication to the company. Follow the startup incubator model by cycling through groups of people, or batches, in the skunk group. Then, many people can be a part of the skunk group generating more employee to company rapport.

To show your company cares, involve environmental or social initiatives. Give a percentage of profits to a charity, match employee donations to nonprofits, or create your own ice bucket challenge. Make a culture staff is proud to promote and show the company trusts its employees.

2. Mobile

Working from home can lead some to become complacent. The solution is to make working from home a privilege and not a right. If staff shows up for meetings on time, communicates effectively, and complete tasks on time, then they can work from home. Be transparent on what exactly has to happen to make working from home a reality. If done right, your staff can be producing quality work from a Mexican beach.

3. Instant and Transparent

Support communication tools that support working from anywhere. Give staff immediate feedback. Tools like Slack and Yammer for staff to communicate, and Recognize for employee recognition and rewards should be part of your overarching human resources and company communication strategy.

Companies must embrace with open arms a new way to operate. The industrial revolution is behind us and from the perspective of millennials, the world needs new modalities if we want to keep a healthy planet for the future.

I myself am a millennial. I founded Recognize after discovering the power of employee recognition at former employers. I want to help all companies have a simple employee recognition strategy. It makes work more like a game. When things are more like games, they are more fun and more profitable.